Coach Louis van Gaal to leave football

Former Manchester United coach Louis van Gaal, who was tipped to be the next national coach of the Dutch women’s team, has decided to call it a day, the Telegraaf reports.

His decision was influenced by the recent death of his son-in-law. ‘It changes your outlook,’ Van Gaal told the paper.

Van Gaal’s most successful time as coach was his stint at Ajax in the 1990s. The club won the Champions League in 1996 and earned three national championship titles.

His worst moment came in 2002 when the Dutch national team failed to qualify for the European championships but he revived a flagging career by taking the national title with AZ and bringing Bayern Munich to third place in the 2014 European championships in Brazil.

Van Gaal originally planned to leave coaching after the European championships but Manchester United’s offer was too good to refuse. ‘I had never worked in England and as it’s the football country to top all football countries I wanted to have that experience. I have now done everything I have ever wanted to do,’ he told broadcaster Omroep West.

After he left Manchester Van Gaal was offered coaching jobs in various countries, including China which is known to pay huge sums for footballers and coaches, but turned them down.

‘Money isn’t everything. If you look at my record you will see there is practically not a country or club left for me to coach,’ the Telegraaf quotes him as saying.